Imagine opening your eyes after sleeping for hours and sitting up in a completely silent room. There is no light except for the minimal amount creeping through the closed window shade. The boredom of not being able to leave the room, watch TV, read, socialize, or even think is almost too much to bear. The reason you’re forced to live in this inhuman environment can be explained in two words. Concussion hysteria.
Concussions are serious. I understand and acknowledge that some people do have serious head injuries and need appropriate care. However, where do we draw the line? In any given class room at Staples there is almost definitely a student missing due to a concussion.
Math teacher Rebecca Stern currently has six students missing because of concussions. While it may seem responsible to keep a student out of school and athletic activities when they may have a concussion, Stern admits it can have serious repercussions. In school it can take weeks for a student to make up work that they missed. Stern even said, “I often set up meetings with students with concussions to help them understand material they have missed or to review material for assessments that they could not take because of their concussion.”
Coaches often get a bad reputation when it comes to players getting concussions. People commonly think coaches push players to play through concussions when they shouldn’t. Nikki Bukovsky ’13 had to get an override from a doctor to convince her coach that she was able medically to play sports.
Many people would argue that I am just a frustrated student-athlete. And I am. But, even people with medical backgrounds have acknowledged the fact Westport is in a bit of hysteria with concussions. Dr. John Sollinger, a Westport pediatrician, explained that he gets a person with a concussion almost every day. He also stated that, “Sometimes we are overly cautious.”
Concussions are an injury. They can sometimes be a very serious injury. However, not every person who bumps their head on a pole needs to be subject to the horrific environment a concuss person must live in. Concussions have become the injury of Westport’s own fear.
